Archery
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "How's your aim?"


**A/N: My first attempt at ArtemisxRoy. I like it, but it's hard to write, I've found. I read a few to get a feel for it. I can't do overly fluffy non-canon, so I manage to tone it down or make it more one-sided. Here goes nothing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all.**

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><p><span>Archery<span>

Sometimes, she found her mind wandering. Which was definitely a bad thing. Because most of the time, it would wander to places she didn't want it to be. Like to... Red Arrow.

How ashamed she was to think it was bad, let alone the thought of saying it out loud. Megan had a habit of prying into others' lives and her recent obsession was trying to poke into Artemis's love life. That, by the archer's choice, was never, ever going to happen. Because Artemis liked Superboy's abs, Wally's spunk, Robin's kick-ass-ness, and Roy's... everything.

Why? Well, she had a thing for redheads. Wally and Roy were prime suspects, of course. Wally was a ginger though, a defining difference. And Artemis loved abs. Sure, all of the guys had 'em, but only Roy and Superboy had really, _really_ nice abs. And she liked a determined attitude in a guy. Wally, yeah, but Red Arrow... Red Arrow had actually _done_ _something_. He wasn't waiting around with the rest of the Little League kiddies. He was out playing with the big dogs, running with wolves.

Artemis liked it all. And she wasn't going to complain that they both had the same ability. Archery.

It was her passion, her life, her soul. If she wasn't at school, she was at home fixing a dent in her bow. If she wasn't on a mission, she was sharpening arrows. If she had any free time at all, it was spent with her beloved equipment. Having someone who loved the same thing wouldn't hurt, would it?

That was why she sometimes looked forward to having Roy come to the headquarters and assign them a mission. So she could admire his bow and his hair and his abs and the way he could carry himself without being a burden. He was a free man, and she loved it.

So when she was camping out at the base one night for an early training session in the morning, she was a little bit shocked to see him standing in the kitchen and pouring milk into a bowl of Lucky Charms. "Um, what are _you_doing here? Don't you have a rundown apartment somewhere since you got kicked out of GA's place?"

"Bills." He put the milk back in the fridge and shut the door again. "Got evicted yesterday."

"Ouch." She cared a little bit. She knew the feeling all too well.

"Yeah." He picked up his bowl of cereal before leaning against a counter, his spoon digging out all the marshmallows. "I've crashed here before though. After Ollie kicked me out the first time, I made a place here once Bats put it back together. It's not bad or anything. Just hard." Marshmallows got shoveled into his mouth.

"But you deal," she finished for him even though she knew he'd finished on his own. She couldn't let him think she actually _cared_.

"And what are you here for?" he asked, eyes questioning behind the mask. "We both know you don't live here so don't try to deny it." Another mouthful of marshmallows. He settled back a little more, tension leaving his body from a long day.

Artemis figured they could talk. What could it hurt? She could admire his abs and he could eat his cereal. It was fair. The blonde settled back against the counter opposite of him. "Training tomorrow. No way I'd make it if I went home." She folded her arms across her chest, feeling a little bit exposed in her pajamas. She was only wearing a light tank top and some fleece pants; it wasn't much in terms of covering up, but she hadn't expected to get hungry at midnight. And she hadn't expected anyone else to be awake. Superboy and M'gann had gone to bed hours ago.

"Black Canary's pretty tough like that." He continued to devour his late night snack. "She's hard to get past. A pain in the ass, if you want my opinion. But if she teaches you right, I have no complaints. Even this little team has to learn, right?"

It was her turn to play defense. "This team protected Roquette when you wouldn't. You called Kaldur for help with taking care of Cheshire. I wouldn't be calling us a little team, Speedy-boy. We're more than you ever could be."

She got a glare. It felt like daggers driving into her heart. She wished she didn't have to be like this, but some part of it felt natural and right to be fighting with him. Artemis was protective of the team. Sure, she liked the thought of being an independent agent, but then there was no back up when it was needed, no friends when the emotional roller coaster came on. She still loved being on a team no matter how irritating it could be sometimes.

"How's your aim?"

She was shaken from her thoughts by his off-topic question. "What?"

He'd finished his Lucky Charms and tossed the plastic dish in the sink, the spoon clanging around a bit. "Your aim. Bow and arrow. Come on, blondie, let's see what you can do." He swiped his own gear from behind him before heading off as if this was the cue to follow him. "It's midnight and I have nothing better to do."

Artemis watched him as he walked away with his bow in his hand before looking down at herself. Pajamas. Fuzzy socks. Her bow was back in her room. And she was going somewhere with Roy in the middle of the night to play with their quivers of arrows. Of course.

So she watched him head out to the backdoor as Megan liked to call it while hustling back to her own room to snatch her bow and sling the quiver's strap around her head and over one shoulder before darting back through dark hallways to catch up with her fellow archer. If she ever wanted a chance to impress him, she was getting it now.

"Looks like it's going to rain." He was staring off into the cloudy night sky that enveloped Happy Harbor and blocked out the moon's wan light. His bow hung in his hand by a mere three fingers, and Roy looked over to her almost expectantly, eyes unreadable behind the mask.

She wasn't sure why he was still in uniform, but she had her thoughts about it. Instead of asking more questions, she answered the expectancy of his gaze by drawing her bow, an arrow nocked. She felt his eyes analyzing her, every joint, every angle, every motion, the swiftness of it all. Artemis was completely aware of his stare. And she released the arrow, letting it soar for a good quarter mile through the humid air of night before ducking down into the ocean like a diving bird.

"Elbow up more, draw back further," instructed the redhead as he quickly moved in, hands fixing things where he saw fit. "Focus. Close one eye if it helps you aim better, but make sure it's the one closer to the bow." His words were direct but not harsh.

"You should teach this stuff," she suggested in a neutral tone before letting a second arrow take flight. Her blue eyes followed it down into the watery depths of the black sea. "Just slap a mustache on you and call it a secret identity. Teach archery." She hadn't noticed too big of a difference, but enough to see that the tail end was more straight and aligned with the front's lead. "It's probably be profitable if your local bimbos like Green Arrow's gig."

He snorted before drawing up his own bow and sliding an arrow into place. "You're funny, blondie." He checked the angles on his elbow and the strain on his shoulder for measurements before his release. Roy watched it fly while nocking another. "I couldn't teach this to save my soul."

"GA taught you, didn't he?"

"Nope. Navajo tribe. Brave Bow." Another arrow soared down into the ocean, the red tail of it spiraling. "Queen didn't teach me jack."

"Then use that." Artemis drew her own bow again as Roy did the same. "You could do it alright. You're fixing my shot. Just grab a few targets, find a park somewhere, tell kids to buy bows and a quiver of arrows and show 'em how to shoot." She let loose another shaft only a heartbeat after Red Arrow. "Just dumb down your own skills so no one'll catch on. Red Arrow isn't Roy Harper."

The masked man seemed to smile at that. "You're not half bad, blondie." He strung up another, his grip tightening on the bow. "They just need to find out your dirty little secrets and everything'll be okay between you and me. As long as you don't hurt them, I won't hurt you."

Her heart pounded a little bit harder. Death threats from the guy she was swooning over. Just great. "Fair enough." She watched another one of his arrows seem to float through the air as it lost speed before taking its dive. "As long as you don't spill it, I won't hurt you."

"Fair enough," was his mutual return.

Her bow dropped back to her side; Artemis had a thought. "Wait a second, how are we going to get these arrows back?"

Roy gave a shrug before loosing another, the sound of it whistling through the night air like music to the archers. A bit of a smug smile graced his features. "I figured we could just ask Kaldur."

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><p><strong>AN: A lil' bit of bonding, I guess you could call it. Anyways, reviews are great and thanks for reading! Adios!**

**~Sky**


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